Opus College of Business, University of St. Thomas | 1000 LaSalle Avenue, SCH200, Minneapolis, MN 55403 | Phone: 651-962-4201 | Fax: 651-962-4210 | cobdean@stthomas.edu


After achieving strong increases in rankings and a 50 percent rise in applications at Georgetown University’s business school, Christopher Puto became dean of the University of St. Thomas’s Opus College of Business in August 2002. The school has since launched its full-time MBA program; established the Schulze School of  Entrepreneurship; built and opened the $22 million, state-of-the art Schulze Hall; received three individual donations of $50 million or more; and increased the number of students enrolled in Masters of Business Programs to approximately 3,000.


Born: June 6, 1942 in Detroit, Michigan

Spouse: Susan E. Heckler, married May 26, 1990

Education: BS, Spring Hill College (Mobile, Alabama); MBA, University of Miami (Florida); PhD in business administration from Duke University.

Career History: Dean, Opus College of Business, August 2002-present; dean, Robert Emmett McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, 1998-2002; professor of marketing, associate dean of the Eller School of Management, University of Arizona, 1989-1998; assistant professor of m arketing, University of Michigan, 1984-1983.

Outside Activities: AACSB International Board of Directors; Hennepin Healthcare Systems Board of Directors—HCMC, Executive Committee; Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest Board of Directors; Bio-Business Alliance of Minnesota Board of Directors, Executive Committee; Minneapolis Downtown Council, Board of Directors; Catholic Relief Services, Marketing Subcommittee; National Black MBA Association, Foundation Board of Trustees; Spring Hill College, Board of Trustees.

Awards: Anderson Consulting Professor of the Year, University of Arizona; Sheth Foundation Award for long-term contributions to Consumer Research; Ferber Award for Best Article based on a doctoral dissertation, Journal of Consumer Research; Academic Entrepreneur of the Year, National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship.